Sculptors Guild, a society of sculptorsSculptors Guild Home Page
/ref> who banded together to promote public interest in

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

sculpture, was founded in 1937. Signatories to the original corporation papers (Sculptors Guild, Inc.) were Sonia Gordon Brown, Berta Margoulies,

Aaron Goodelman Aaron Goodelman (1890 – 1978) was an American sculptor. He graduated from art school in Odessa, fleeing Eastern Europe for the United States in 1904 because of antisemitic violence.. He attended a number of major art schools in New York and Pari ...

Chaim Gross Chaim Gross (; March 17, 1902 – May 5, 1991) was an American sculptor and educator of Hungarian Jewish origin. Gross studied and taught at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City’s Lower Manhattan. Childhood Gross was born t ...

(who became the first President), Minna Harkavy,

Milton Horn Milton Horn (September 1, 1906 – March 29, 1995) was a Ukrainian American sculptor and artist known for work that, according to a 1957 citation of honor from the American Institute of Architects, demonstrated "the truth that architecture an ...

, Concetta Scaravaglione, Warren Wheelock, and

William Zorach William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism. He is the husband of ...

. The inaugural exhibition of the Guild was held April 12 – May 31, 1938, on a vacant lot at

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

and 39th St. This outdoor exhibit, the first of its kind in New York City, hosted 40,000 visitors paying an admission price of ten cents to view the work. Owing to the tremendous success of this first exhibit, the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

held an exhibition of contemporary American sculpture by Guild members, October 21- November 27, 1938.

History

The Guild's mission is to "promote, encourage, and support sculptors and sculpture through personal interaction, professional development, exhibitions and

community outreach A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geog ...

." The Sculptors Guild is one of the oldest artist-run organizations in New York City one of the few to survive from the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

into the 21st century. It continues to promote sculpture and sculptors through exhibitions and educational outreach programs. The founders, who were at the forefront of American Modernism, stated their primary objective in an early exhibition catalogue: "to unite sculptors of all progressive aesthetic tendencies into a vital organization." Past Guild Members have included

Louise Bourgeois Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (; 25 December 191131 May 2010) was a French-American artist. Although she is best known for her large-scale sculpture and installation art, Bourgeois was also a prolific painter and printmaker. She explored a varie ...

, Lin Emery,

, Ibram Lassaw,

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, ...

George Rickey George Warren Rickey (June 6, 1907 – July 17, 2002) was an American kinetic sculptor known for geometric abstractions, often large-scale, engineered to move in response to air currents. Early life and education Rickey was born on June 6, ...

, Jose Ruiz de Riviera, David Smith,

Herbert Ferber Herbert Ferber (April 30, 1906 – August 20, 1991) was an American painter and sculptor. He is an abstract expressionist and is considered a vital member of the New York School." Background Herbert Ferber Silvers was born on April 30 ...

and

Seymour Lipton Seymour Lipton (6 November 1903 – 15 December 1986) was an American abstract expressionist sculptor. He was a member of the New York School who gained widespread recognition in the 1950s. He initially trained as a dentist but focused on s ...

Archives_of_American_Art_-_Enrico_Glicenstein_-_3045

The Sculptors Guild continues today as an advocacy organization with a diverse membership. Activities have expanded to include the annual "dressing" of the windows of

Saks 5th Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C., and expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Squa ...

, New York City, and participation in exhibitions abroad, such as the 1993 exhibition in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, Japan, and the 2008 international art fairs at

Art Cologne Art Cologne is an art exhibition, art fair held annually in Cologne, Germany and was established in 1967 as ''Kölner Kunstmarkt''. It is regarded as the world's oldest art fair of its kind. The fair runs for six days and brings together galleries ...

and Supermarket Stockholm. In 2010 the Sculptors Guild opened a gallery space and office on the second floor in

Dumbo, Brooklyn Dumbo (or DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It encompasses two sections: one situated between the Manhattan Bridge, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, which ...

. In September 2016, they moved into an office space on the second floor at the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation, in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

at 256 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY 10012 and continue to have summer exhibitions on Governors Island. The Sculptors Guild has a presence on New York's historic

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...

, with annual indoor and outdoor exhibitions, carving workshops and gallery talks. Governors Island opened to the public in 2003. It has been a destination to see modern and contemporary artwork. The Sculptors Guild has had the opportunity to exhibit here in a historic residential area instead of the usual "white box" museum or gallery setting. The Guild has also exhibited large-scale outdoor sculptures on Governors Island, which is more difficult in New York City. In 2015 Richard Timperio, owner of Sideshow Gallery in Brooklyn, curated ''Laws of Attraction''. Sculptors Guild previously had curated exhibits here for seven consecutive years. In 2017 The Sculptors Guild celebrated its 80th anniversary with an exhibition on Governors Island, ''Currently 80'' curated by John Yau. The Guild also had a 70th anniversary exhibition on Governors Island titled ''In Site''. Chaim Gross Studio

The Sculptors Guild also marked 80th Anniversary with another momentous member exhibition in February 2017. It was also curated by

John Yau John Yau (born June 5, 1950) is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978. He has published over 50 books of poetry, artists' books, ficti ...

at the historic Westbeth Gallery at

Westbeth Artists Community Westbeth Artists Housing is a non-profit housing, nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and New York City arts organizations, arts organizations in New York City. The comp ...

located in the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

, New York City. This exhibition included both past and current members highlighting the vast forms of sculpture members have explored over past 80 years. A catalog with an essay by John Yau accompanied the exhibition. The Guild's annual exhibitions have often taken place outdoors. ''Sculpture of Freedom'' was the fourth group exhibition of the Sculptor's Guild held in 1942 on a roof terrace at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

overlooking St. Patrick's Cathedral in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

. This was a pivotal time during World War II when the war began to turn in favor of the Allies. The purpose of the exhibit was "to aid and encourage the growth of cultural unity among all the peoples of the free world." A New York Times review highlighted the selection of artists from United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America, and artwork by

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

and Jacques Lipschitz. The sixth outdoor exhibit of about 100 sculptures was held June through September 1955 on the corner lot at Fifth Avenue and 89th Street in New York City. This lot adjoined the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: * The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...

which was located in a townhouse at that time. The exhibit was organized and curated by the Sculptors Guild, and the press release spoke of the artists landscaping and transforming the site into a miniature Versailles Garden.

Founding members

The 58 founding members of the Sculptors Guild were: *Saul Baizerman *Aaron Ben-Shmuel *Simone Brangier Boas * Sonia Gordon Brown *Harold Cash *Albino Cavalito * Cornellia Van A. Chapin * Robert Cronbach *Louise Cross *John Cunningham * Alice Decker * Jose de Creeft *Jean De Marco * Jose de Rivera *Hunt Diederich *Alfeo Faggi *

*Paul Fiene * John Bernard Flannagan *Hy Freilicher *Mark Freidman * Eugenie Gershoy *

Enrico Glicenstein Enrico Glicenstein (24 May 1870 – 30 December 1942) was a Polish-born sculptor who lived in Italy and the United States. Life Glicenstein was born in Turek, Poland in 1870 and named Enoch Hendryk Glicenstein. His father was a teacher who also w ...

*Maurice Glickman *

Vincent Glinsky Vincent Glinsky (December 18, 1895 – March 19, 1975) was an American sculptor. He is especially noted for his architectural decorations. Life Vincent Glinsky was born in Russia on December 18, 1895 and emigrated to America just before World ...

* Dorothea Greenbaum *

(first President) * Genevieve Karr Hamlin * Minna Harkavy * Alonzo Hauser * Milton Hebald *

*John Hovannes * Margaret Brassler Kane * Nathaniel Kaz * Oronzio Maldarelli *

Paul Manship Paul Howard Manship (December 25, 1885 – January 31, 1966) was an American Sculpture, sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco in the United States, Art Deco movement. ...

* Berta Margoulies (first Secretary) * Dina Melicov *George Meyers *David Michnick *Ward Montague * Hugo Robus * Marion Sanford *

Hélène Sardeau Hélène Sardeau (July 7, 1899March 23, 1969) was an American sculptor, born in Antwerp, Belgium, who moved with her family to the United States when she was about 14 years old. Early years Sardeau arrived in the United States in 1913. She stud ...

* Concetta Scaravaglione * Louis Slobodkin * Cesare Stea * Mary Tarleton *T. Trajan *Polygnotos Vagis *Marion Walton *Nat Werner * Anita Weschler (first Treasurer) *Warren Wheelock *Adolf Wolff *Sreekumar Unnikrishnan *

Membership is by invitation and/or submission to the Admissions Committee.

References

{{reflist

External links

Sculptors Guild website
American artist groups and collectives American sculpture American contemporary art Arts organizations based in New York City Arts organizations established in 1937 1937 establishments in the United States

History

Founding members

See also

References

External links